Production Manager
Location: Greater Boston Area, MA
Compensation: $135,000 – $145,000 / year
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Summary
The Production Manager oversees the end-to-end assembly, testing, and delivery of advanced capital equipment systems, ensuring builds are completed on schedule and to the highest quality and regulatory standards.
Operating in a low-volume, high-complexity, project-based manufacturing environment, this role is measured on repeatable execution against commit dates rather than sheer unit throughput. The Production Manager does not hold design authority or controlled document ownership; rather, you are accountable for establishing build readiness, building data-backed cases for operational constraints, and escalating risks through formal governance channels. This position reports directly to the Director of Manufacturing.
Key Responsibilities
-
Floor Operations & Scheduling: Own the daily and weekly build plan against the released ERP schedule, managing work order lifecycle, kit verification, and order closure. Organize and assign tasks to production leads and shop-floor staff to meet delivery milestones.
-
Team Leadership & Development: Directly manage production technicians, floor leads, and test/commissioning personnel. Drive hiring, onboarding, retention, objective-setting, cross-training matrices, and succession planning. Foster independent problem-solving at the technician level to resolve routine issues without escalation.
-
Testing & Commissioning Oversight: Supervise integration, cabling, subassembly testing, system startup, and final factory acceptance testing of complex electromechanical systems.
-
Quality & Continuous Improvement: Enforce standard work adherence, 5S, visual controls, and continuous improvement initiatives. Drive root-cause investigations (CAPA, 8D, A3) to permanently eliminate manufacturing-caused nonconformances rather than relying on repeat containment.
-
Cross-Functional Governance: Partner with Supply Chain, Quality, Planning, and Engineering to sequence builds and support SIOP/S&OP processes. Represent Manufacturing in Material Review Board (MRB) meetings, internal/external regulatory audits, and ensure complete Device History Record (DHR) compliance.
-
New Product & Engineering Transfer: Serve as the manufacturing reviewer on engineering change orders (ECOs), evaluating build-impact and manufacturability within change-control windows. Assess engineering transfer readiness across drawings, work instructions, fixtures, and skill coverage.
Qualifications & Requirements
-
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Industrial Technology, Operations Management, or equivalent practical experience.
-
Experience: 7+ years of manufacturing experience, including 3+ years directly managing production personnel in a low-volume, high-mix, high-complexity capital equipment environment (e.g., medical devices, semiconductor equipment, aerospace, or defense).
-
Regulatory Compliance: Solid working knowledge of highly regulated quality systems (such as ISO 13485 or FDA 21 CFR Part 820), including nonconformance, CAPA, design transfer, and change control practices.
-
ERP & Data Literacy: Hands-on proficiency with tier-one ERP/MRP systems (work orders, BOMs, lead times, capacity planning). Proven ability to generate and defend operational metrics and labor load models independently.
-
Communication & Influence: Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present build status, operational risks, and headcount models to cross-functional and executive leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
-
Hands-on experience with lean manufacturing systems (standard work, 5S, visual management, OEE).
-
Formal problem-solving certification (Six Sigma Green/Black Belt, A3, 8D).
-
Experience with specialized electromechanical environments involving high magnetic fields, cryogenics, high-vacuum systems, RF, high-voltage, or radiation-generating equipment.
-
Familiarity with ERP platforms like Rootstock, Salesforce, or equivalent cloud manufacturing software.
-
Proven background scaling production capacity through significant step-change output increases.
How to apply.
Apply through TopOneHire and we forward your application to the hiring employer. TopOneHire is a publisher and listings platform — we do not screen, interview, or make hiring decisions.